Colleagues,

In September we have two great topics planned for the Special Topics  
Discussion List: World Literacy and Nonformal Education, September  
8-10;  and
The Role of Counseling and Advising in Adult Basic and Secondary  
Education, September 14 -18, 2009.  Below are descriptions of these  
discussions, including confirmed guest panelists.

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World Literacy and Nonformal Education
September 8 - 10, 2009

Description
We will explore how to help adult literacy educators better understand  
the contributions of nonformal education to their work in the U.S.,  
for example participatory learning methods, formative assessment,  
action/teacher research, the integration of basic skills and  
livelihood skills/vocational training, systems of nonformal learning  
for adults and out of school youth.

Background on Guest Panelists
Brenda Bell is a Senior Technical Advisor for the International  
Development Division of Education Development Center, with  over 30  
years of experience in formal and non-formal adult and youth  
education.  For 13 years she was Associate Director of the Center for  
Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, where she managed state,  
regional and national research and professional development programs,  
including development and implementation of Equipped for the Future.   
Currently, she works with EDC on basic education, literacy and work  
readiness initiatives in the Philippines, Rwanda, Liberia, and Yemen,  
and for several years (2004-06) she was the education advisor to the  
Afghanistan Literacy and Community Empowerment Program. Brenda's set  
of skills and experience includes professional development for  
educational improvement; facilitation and training of trainers;  
development and alignment of standards, curriculum and assessment;  
program evaluation; and implementation of participatory approaches to  
monitoring and evaluation. Brenda lives in Maryville, Tennessee.

Barbara Garner, former editor of NCSALL’s Focus on Basics and Annual  
Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, is now a consultant in formal  
and non-formal adult and youth education. Based at World Education for  
14 years, she provided technical assistance to the Massachusetts  
System for Adult Basic Education in the areas of program  and  
workforce development, and managed a three-year simultaneous skills  
training and basic education program. She also helped World Education  
develop adult literacy projects in Egypt, Guinea, and Mali. Her  
current projects include developing non-formal training programs for  
Partners in Health’s community health workers and clinicians working  
in Rwanda and Haiti, and advising the Educational Development Center’s  
adult literacy program in Mali. This program involves not just all the  
aspects of establishing and managing literacy classes but also  
decentralizing oversight of literacy programs to the commune (county)  
level. She keeps upon US adult literacy issues by volunteering in a  
program in Boston and subscribing to NIFL discussion lists.

Erik Jacobson is an Assistant Professor in the Early Childhood,  
Elementary and Literacy Education Department at Montclair State  
University. He is one of the founding members of the Adult Literacy  
Education (ALE) Wiki and for the last few years has been conducting  
research that looks at the ways the web has been used in adult  
education. Erik is the Topic Leader for World Literacy and Nonformal  
Education of the ALE Wiki. Erik has also conducted research on adult  
education in Japan and has a long-standing interest in how adult  
education is conceptualized in different contexts. He is currently  
President-Elect of the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning.

Cecilia S. Ochoa is currently the Senior Specialist for Basic  
Education and Literacy of Save the Children USA’s Department of  
Education and Child Development (International Programs). In this  
capacity, she provides technical assistance to country programs in  
rolling out and adapting the agency’s signature Literacy Boost  
program, which aims to strengthen children’s skills in learning to  
read and in reading to learn. Prior to transitioning to her  
headquarters position, Ces worked for Save the Children’s Philippines  
Country Office (PhCO) as its Education Manager, providing technical  
leadership to its early childhood development, basic education,  
education in emergencies, and adolescent learning programs. Ces was  
also part of the team that designed and managed Save the Children’s  
implementation of the Education Quality and Access for Learning and  
Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS), a USAID-funded basic education program in  
conflict-affected areas in Southern Philippines. This program began in  
2004 and will end in 2011, and provides alternative learning  
opportunities for out of school youth, particularly in the areas of  
basic literacy and accreditation and equivalency. It also provides  
youth skills training for workforce development, and teaching-learning  
improvement assistance to public elementary schools. Ces earned her  
Master of Public Administration (Public Policy & Program  
Administration) and BA Communications (Journalism) degrees from the  
University of the Philippines.

Ujwala Samant is senior manager of Programs and Services at the Food  
Bank of South Jersey, to eliminate hunger in 4 south New Jersey  
counties. Prior to that she was the director of Learning for Life, a  
charity that assists local partners in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan  
to provide education and teacher training to remote areas and  
impoverished communities. Examples of the much-needed work in these  
countries, include catch-up programmes for girls under the Taliban,  
training health workers in the NWFP region, to educating slum children  
in Lahore. Before joining LfL, she was a senior researcher at the  
National Centre for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy at  
Rutgers University.


The Role of Counseling and Advising in Adult Basic and Secondary  
Education (including ESL/ESOL)
September 14 -18, 2009

Description
We will look at what programs' responsibilities are for providing  
adult learners with advising and counseling, who should provide these  
services (teachers, advisors, counselors?), what the range of these  
services should be (academic -- work and vocational -- and citizenship  
advising only, or also personal and/or case management counseling?) We  
will look at how advising fits -- or could fit -- with volunteer work  
experience, internships or apprenticeships, and when learners should  
be referred for specialized counseling or advice.

Background on Guest panelists

Judith A. Alamprese is a Principal Associate in the Economic and  
Social Policy Division of Abt Associates Inc.  For the past 30 years,  
she has directed research, evaluation, technical assistance, and  
program development projects in adult education and workforce  
development.  Her current research is focused on organizational  
change, program improvement, and policy development in adult  
education, pathways for adult education participants’ transition to  
work and postsecondary education, and the instructional and  
organizational factors that are associated with adults’ development of  
reading skills.  These projects are supported by the U.S. Department  
of Education, the National Institute for Literacy, the Oregon  
Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, and the  
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of  
Health.  Her previous work has included studies of effective practices  
in workplace and family literacy, the evaluation of statewide adult  
education systems, and the provision of assistance to states in  
program and policy development.  Among the committees that she has  
served on are the U.S. Department of Education’s Adult Literacy  
Assessment Workplace Literacy Panel and the National Institute for  
Literacy’s Lifespan Literacy Methodology Panel.  Ms. Alamprese also  
was a member of the National Research Council, Board of Testing and  
Assessment’s Committee on Performance Levels for Adult Literacy and  
the Committee on Alternative Assessments of Adult Literacy.  She  
received her M.A. in Sociology from Syracuse University’s Maxwell  
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs where she also completed her  
coursework for a Ph.D. in Sociology.

Cathryn Gannon’s first position in Adult Basic Education was in 1985  
as the counselor in a small, part time ABE program in Massachusetts.   
Her qualifications for the position included an M.Ed. in College and  
Community Counseling from Northeastern University, teacher  
certification, and experience as a counselor in vocational high  
schools.  After 3 months she became the director of the program and  
continued in that role until 1999.  She was a consultant to the  
Massachusetts System for Adult Basic Education Support (SABES) and  
developed and delivered trainings to ABE Program counselors across the  
state.   In 1999 she joined the Central Massachusetts SABES staff as  
the ABE Community Planning Coordinator statewide and later became an  
associate coordinator in the Central Massachusetts region.  She  
continued her work with counselors by convening a regional counselor/ 
student support coordinator working group, and delivering and  
participating in the design of counseling workshops.

Sandy Goodman is the Director of the New England College Transition  
Project at the National College Transition Network (NCTN) of World  
Education, in Boston, MA.  She directs two regional initiatives that  
involve substantial career and educational counseling and advising  
using the Integrating Career Awareness into the ABE/ESOL Classroom, a  
curriculum guide for teachers and counselors, written by Carol Bower  
and Martha Oesch, and edited by Sandy. She also wrote and facilitates  
on online course for practitioners using the curriculum. Sandy has  
directed community based workforce development and ABE/ESOL programs  
in Boston, where she supervised career coach/case managers and  
counselors. Before joining the ABE field, Sandy trained and supervised  
volunteer counselor/advocates staffing a battered women’s shelter and  
24-hour hotline, and consulted to the Massachusetts Department of  
Social Services on domestic violence risk assessment, case management  
protocol, and policy.

Sandy is the lead author of the College Transition Toolkit. Both the  
College Transition Toolkit and the Integrating Career Awareness  
curriculum can be found at www.collegetransition.org.

Margaret Van Duyne (Peg) began One WITH One, Inc. an organization  
fostering refugees and immigrants' integration with Americans in our  
communities and businesses through two programs. For 21 years Learning  
Partnerships paired 3500 volunteer adult tutors and newcomers from 70  
countries for English conversation. For 15 years in the re-/ pre- 
employment training Entrance: Office Careers, 524 women and men  
prepared for entry level jobs and gained employment. Peg led the  
staff's professional development as program and curriculum designer,  
educational counselor and tutors' workshop leader. She also was the  
director and fundraiser for One WITH One's two programs. She is  
currently completing a memoir of Loving Teaching, Principles and  
Practices for Professional Development along with seven manuals and  
guides for the Experiencing English series with Anita Webb. For five  
years Peg participated in post- graduate long distance adult education  
courses led by business consultant Dr. Fernando Flores, now of Chile.   
Peg completed her MA in Communications from William Paterson College  
and BA in English from Bryn Mawr College. She is a licensed NJ  
teacher, former library trustee and consultant as well as a former job  
search counselor for the national out-placement firm of Tom Jackson,  
author of The Perfect Résumé.

Anita H. Webb has worked in English as a second language, cultural,  
and business education for 15 years as a teacher, trainer and  
educational counselor. Working with Margaret Van Duyne at One WITH One  
for 12 years, Anita managed the Entrance: Office Careers program for 5  
years.  Anita has an M.Ed in Education in Adult Education and  
Community Development with a focus on Work and Career from the Ontario  
Institute for Studies in Education (OISE/UT) in Toronto , Ontario. She  
is also a Certified Professional Résumé Writer and Certified  
Employment Interview Professional through the Professional Association  
of Résumé Writers / Career Coaches

David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
DJRosen at theworld.com





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